A Man of Many Animal Hats

You just can’t argue with animal hats. Especially kitten hats wearing hats. Get in on the fun Friday, June 4, from 5 to 8:30 p.m. at OFFCenter (808 Park SW) where you can see a performance by JASPER, “a three piece rock n roots band,” while enjoying art, coffee and refreshments. We can assume this free event is all-ages in nature. (Jessica Cassyle Carr)

The second release from North Carolina’s The Love Language sounds like lo-fi, effects-laden ’60s pop guided by crooning vocals. Many of the songs embody bubblegumish whimsy with an underlying creepiness—on “Horophones,” Stuart McLamb sweetly sings, “If all good children go to heaven then all good children die.” Meanwhile, other songs are mere acoustic ballads that eventually sweep into compositions of shoegaze proportion. If you only pick one track to download (because CDs are old hat, right?), go for the upbeat melancholy of “Brittany’s Back.” (JCC)

Good as Dead’s Sam Blankenship

By Jessica Cassyle Carr

Good as Dead is an Albuquerque band that's been rocking for what’s nearing a decade. But in May, the group raked in three new honors at the New Mexico Music Awards for its 2009 album Learn to Swim (get your hands on the disc at cdbaby.com). To find out a little more about the musical leanings of this award-winning band, we asked drummer Sam Blankenship to shuffle his iPod to see what random items came up. Below are the “goofy” results.

If you want a reminder—and not from Radiohead—that hip-hop is everywhere, even in the indie rock that millennials are sorta into (but only after they listen to every goddamn thing they can find by Kendrick Lamar) then trip, trip, trip on down to Sister on Monday, Feb. 19 at 8pm for a recital of sorts by Cincinnati alt-rappers cum indie rock stars, WHY? Founded by a dude named Yoni in the distant and unremembered aughts, WHY? has gained traction among rockish young audiences with their pop-nuanced mash-up of rocanrol and hip-hop. They got all kinda crazy rhythms, jams and flows going on betwixt rock references and may do some drugs; their latest effort is called Moh Lhean, after all. Additionally, the critics at Allmusic have judged their music as “quirky” which oughta count for something, amirite? They do have some pretty righteous tuneage, including works like “George Washington,” “White English” and “Into the Shadows of My Embrace.” Seriously, this one's worth the price of admission and if you're into skinny jeans and man buns, then damn, get out there, girl! The cover is $15 to $18, 21+.